Myles Garrett trade fits: Which teams make sense for Browns star?
The moment Browns fans have been dreading finally arrived last week. After a disastrous 2024 season, star edge rusher and franchise icon Myles Garrett took to social media to announce he was requesting a trade. The 2017 No. 1 pick has been a cornerstone ever since arriving in Cleveland, racking up 102.5 sacks and 200 knockdowns over eight seasons. He ranks second in both categories since the start of the 2017 season, behind T.J. Watt.
Garrett’s statement reflects the reality the Browns are facing after their disastrous decision to trade for Deshaun Watson in 2022, a move that cost them multiple first-round picks and locked them into a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million deal, $92 million of which remains on the books. The Browns were one of the worst offenses in recent NFL history when Watson was on the field last season, and while they improved after he tore his right Achilles in November, they will feel the impact of the missing draft picks and his massive contract for years to come.
Plenty of players issue trade requests as part of their efforts to land a new contract, and Garrett will certainly feel like it’s time for a new deal. There are two years left on his five-year, $125 million extension, which was a market-resetting deal when he signed it in 2020. Since then, five edge rushers have topped that mark, including San Francisco’s Nick Bosa, who is making $34 million per season on his new contract. Dallas’ Micah Parsons is expected to top that figure when he signs his extension this offseason.
Garrett is due just over $40 million over the next two years, all of which is non-guaranteed. As he approaches his age-30 season, he understandably wants a raise to the top of the edge-rushing market and a multiyear guarantee. The Browns have him on relatively friendly cap numbers over the next couple of years, but as CBS Sports’ Joel Corry wrote about, that contract structure could make him tougher to trade.
While the most likely scenario remains that Garrett signs an extension with the Browns, it would be a surprise if he felt the need to put this much pressure on the team to get a deal done under those circumstances. It’s one thing when a player might feel like he’s about to be a cut or trade candidate or when his team has been hesitant to sign a new deal, which has led to trade requests in the past. Garrett has already been on a significant deal for several years, and Cleveland shouldn’t have many arguments against giving a player with his résumé a new contract. General manager Andrew Berry has said the Browns have no intention of trading Garrett, but what teams say publicly and end up doing in reality are often two different things.
There’s enough smoke here to do a deeper dive. If the Browns are really willing to trade Garrett, what would a fair price even look like? And which teams should be interested? Let’s try to find comps for a Garrett swap and then go around the league to see which franchises could credibly complete a deal for a player who should be going to Canton one day.
